Lol,interesting how things look at the beginning of the season although I always thought that Nadal is somewhat underrated in doubles.He's a very good doubles player as evidenced by the fact that he and his partner Lopez beat the first ranked doubles team in the world in Doha(Nestor and Ziki).

Why does he play doubles and then complain later in the year that the season is too gruelling?

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He's playing only one (ATP) tournament before the AO, he needs match practise to get in the groove. He also plays doubles when he switches surfaces. He played doubles in Monte-Carlo last year because it was his first tournament of the year on clay and he wanted to get used to the surface. He now has 5 doubles titles, not bad at all!

51,000 plus for a week of work is good money, whatever way you cut it.

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It isn't really, not for a #1 in a sport. Think of football, basketball, hockey, racing. Thats peanuts compared to what those pros make. I don't follow baseball any more but didn't Rodriguez sign a contract for $250 million or something? I know that some Italian race car driver owes 100 million Euro in taxes! Just back taxes!!

i agree, i just wish he would come to net more...he can use his speed and top spin shots (deep) to get good net position...and how about strategic s&v's?...rafa must realize by now his typical backcourt game on hardcourts (and i'm thinking about them here) does not hurt players as much as clay and grass...he needs a little more variety and surprise, no?

I definatly agree. If you see him play break points on his serve he is typically a little more aggresive and ready to come forward. His game is made around his massive topspin forehand, and he opens up the court so well he could finish points much easier and perhaps could lead to a longer career if he came forward.

I definatly agree. If you see him play break points on his serve he is typically a little more aggresive and ready to come forward. His game is made around his massive topspin forehand, and he opens up the court so well he could finish points much easier and perhaps could lead to a longer career if he came forward.

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you've hit on something here...he definitely becomes more aggressive when he feels cornered (down break points) and has a tendency to become very conservative when ahead, which allows his opponent to hang around when he could be going all out (with varying tactics) to bury a guy when he's feeling confident (and also saving his legs for later in the tournament/year)

I have watched quite a bit of his doubles matches and he is getting better at it, no doubt. I also think, at the very least, that it will have/has had a positive impact on his singles.

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God I hope you're right. I feel he's vulnerable on hard. He has a hard time staying agressive on that surface, at any moment he's liable to revert to cautious defensive. I still hope this will change in the future and he will acquire more confidence to stay aggressive all the time. He has the skills IMO, it's more a mental hurdle in this case.

you've hit on something here...he definitely becomes more aggressive when he feels cornered (down break points) and has a tendency to become very conservative when ahead, which allows his opponent to hang around when he could be going all out (with varying tactics) to bury a guy when he's feeling confident (and also saving his legs for later in the tournament/year)

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Exactly. Also coming forward on hard courts, he could really make a push to win a HC slam. I think that is all he is missing. Little more aggresive coming forward and a HC slam is his for the taking.